264 THE BOOK OF CORN 



in preference to anything else when available. By 

 poisoning- this material with paris green or arsenic, 

 we have a good remedy, cheap and easy to apply. 



The ingredients used for making the poison mash 

 are as follows : Wheat bran, fifty pounds ; molasses 

 (any kind), two quarts; paris green (good quality), 

 one pound; and water (enough to make thick mash). 

 The bran should be placed in an old tub or barrel, and 

 to this the poison should be added and stirred thor- 

 oughly before the water or molasses is poured in. Stir 

 the molasses in about a gallon of warm water and pour 

 it over the bran, to which the poison has been previ- 

 ously added, thoroughly stirring until it is well mixed. 

 Then add enough water to make a mash about the con- 

 sistency of dough, so that it can be handled easily with- 

 out running. Drop a small quantity near each hill. 

 Not over a heaping teaspoonful in a place. Apply 

 in the afternoon toward evening. Where it is necessary 

 to get over large areas, there is no objection to distrib- 

 uting it in any time during the day Care should be 

 taken to keep chickens, turkeys, or animals of any 

 kind that would be liable to eat the mash, out of the 

 field for a day or two. A light cultivation a few days 

 later will cover up any remnant that may be left. 



The Army Worm — The popular name is given to 

 this creature from the fact that the worms congregate 

 and travel in large numbers, invading a field of corn 

 or other crop like an army. The sudden appearance 

 and disappearance of this pest is very curious. The 

 adult moth appears in the fields early in the spring. 

 Two or three days are required for the moth to com- 

 plete the egg laying process, after which it dies. Eight 

 or ten days elapse before the eggs hatch. The young 

 worms begin to feed at once. When not excessively 

 abundant they hide during the day and are rarely seen. 

 In years of great abundance they are generally unno- 



